The Humming Room

Hiding is Roo Fanshaw's special skill. Living in a frighteningly unstable family, she often needs to disappear at a moment's notice. When her parents are murdered, it's her special hiding place under the trailer that saves her life.

As it turns out, Roo, much to her surprise, has a wealthy if eccentric uncle, who has agreed to take her into his home on Cough

Overview

Hiding is Roo Fanshaw's special skill. Living in a frighteningly unstable family, she often needs to disappear at a moment's notice. When her parents are murdered, it's her special hiding place under the trailer that saves her life.

As it turns out, Roo, much to her surprise, has a wealthy if eccentric uncle, who has agreed to take her into his home on Cough Rock Island. Once a tuberculosis sanitarium for children of the rich, the strange house is teeming with ghost stories and secrets. Roo doesn't believe in ghosts or fairy stories, but what are those eerie noises she keeps hearing? And who is that strange wild boy who lives on the river? People are lying to her, and Roo becomes determined to find the truth.

Despite the best efforts of her uncle's assistants, Roo discovers the house's hidden room--a garden with a tragic secret.

Inspired by The Secret Garden, this tale full of unusual characters and mysterious secrets is a story that only Ellen Potter could write.

Read the Q&A with Ellen Potter from Publisher's Weekly on writing a novel inspired by The Secret Garden

By Sally LodgeJan 12, 2011

In 2003, Ellen Potter made a lively splash onto the scene with her middle-grade novel Olivia Kidney. She went on to write three sequels about that enchantingly quirky heroine, as well as two other novels, Slob and The Kneebone Boy. Most recently, the author tapped into memories of her own childhood reading to pen The Humming Room, a novel inspired by Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden. Set in a mansion-a former children's tuberculosis sanitarium-on an island in the St. Lawrence River, the story centers on Roo, a prickly orphan who goes to live with her aloof uncle, and befriends Phillip, his troubled son, and Jack, a local boy. Potter talks about how this novel took shape.

Is it safe to assume that The Secret Garden was an important book to you as a child?

Obviously, I loved the novel as a kid. What really struck me was that when I went back to read it as an adult, the story not only held up, but I discovered elements in it I had never noticed before. It felt very fresh, and surprisingly layered in a way I hadn't realized as a child.

Was that an unusual reaction for you to have to a book you revisit from your childhood?

Ellen Potter. Photo: Shai Enav.Yes, very unusual for me. A lot of times when I go back to books I loved when I was young I don't quite understand what it was that I loved about them. Rereading The Secret Garden, Ifelt a lot like Mary feels when she visits her garden. She's always finding something new popping up-something delightful or surprising. I've reread The Secret Garden every year as an adult. I have a battered copy on my bookshelf-it's really quite a mess! The experience of reading the novel keeps deepening for me.

How did you tackle the actual writing of The Humming Room?The idea of writing a contemporary version of The Secret Garden was very exciting to me, yet at the same time it was very, very intimidating. I knew I needed to follow the original story line-or that I wanted to-but I knew I had to make it different enough that it would be worthwhile for people to read my novel. My editor, Jean Feiwel, was great and kept encouraging me to have at it, to go anywhere that I felt I had to go with it.

Did you set parameters for yourself, in terms of working within Burnett's original storyline?I actually kept trying to swerve away from the original story, but it wasn't easy. There's something about The Secret Garden that kept me rooted in the original storyline, which was difficult for me. I don't plot my novels-I move along with my characters. For the first time I had a story already set out for me, which was very challenging.

Would you say that you heard Burnett's voice in your head as you wrote?Yes. I feel I know The Secret Garden so well that I could kind of riff on it like a jazz musician. I know it in my core, and could take the essence and work with that. Still, I love the original novel so much that it was psychologically a very tough book to write. Though I think whenever I finish a book I always say it's the hardest thing I've ever written!

You obviously did branch out from the original, with the setting to begin with. Why choose an island on the St. Lawrence?I went back and forth on the setting, actually. At first I thought of perhaps setting it in New York City, but that didn't work. At the time I began writing the novel I was living in the Thousand Islands, and was spending a lot of time on the St. Lawrence. The river is so very beautiful, and it struck me as similar in some ways to the moor in The Secret Garden.

Similar in what ways?

The St. Lawrence seems a vast expanse of gray, the way the moor is a vast expanse of purple. But if you stop and look closely at the river, it's incredibly changeable and moody-and sometimes violent. But it's always surprising. And it occurred to me that this would be a perfect setting for The Humming Room. On top of that, there are quite a few mansions in the Thousand Islands with ghost stories attached to them. It's quite incredible.

So that inspired your mansion setting, with mysterious humming noises and an abandoned garden hidden within it?

Yes, and I decided to make the mansion a defunct sanitarium, because I wanted there to be a ghostly presence, an eerie echo, in the house. One of the things I loved in The Secret Garden, and tried to put in my novel, was that there was a consciousness to everything-the house, the moor, and the garden. They are really characters themselves. In my novel, I wanted to give this same consciousness and self-awareness to the mansion, the river, and the garden, to give them personalities.

How did you set out to make Roo, Jack, and Phillip distinct from-and have a more modern sensibility than-Burnett's characters?One thing I remember about Mary and Dickon is that there was a little squeak of romance in their relationship, but it was so understated. As a child, I remember wanting more romance in the book. So I brought out a bit more romance between Roo and Jack. It's a young romance and entirely innocent, but it's there. With Phillip, my Colin character, I tried at first to make his ailment physical, like Colin's, but that didn't work, so I decided to give Phillip a more mental affliction, which worked better for the story. And like Mary, Roo starts off as a not very likable character-she's a pretty tough customer. That's unusual for a heroine, and I loved that about The Secret Garden. But before long Mary begins to blossom, and that happens to Roo as well.

Have you tackled another writing project since finishing The Humming Room?

Yes. I'm working on a series for younger readers, for Feiwel and Friends. It's directed at boys-though I think girls will like it, too. I have a son who is seven, and I've been noticing for a while how few very engaging books there are for boys around that age. They somehow get the short shrift. Boys at that age who are big readers are reading books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid, which deal with middle-school issues that seven-year-olds are not yet concerned about. So I'm trying to write something along those lines, but more appropriate for younger kids. As I write, I've been trying out scenes on my son. I wait for his giggle, and if it comes, I keep that part in the book. Luckily, it's a method that seems to be working quite well!

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

In a resonant novel inspired by The Secret Garden, Potter (The Kneebone Boy) pays graceful tribute to the spirit of that classic. The author borrows plot elements effectively, yet her strong characterizations, fluid dialogue, and evocative descriptions give the novel a vibrant life of its own. After Roo’s drug dealer father is killed, the 12-year-old girl goes to live with her aloof, widowed uncle in a rambling former tuberculosis sanitarium on the island of Cough Rock in the St. Lawrence River. Roo is a loner who hides to avoid others and often puts her ear to the soil, listening to the sounds of life underground. Other noises—mysterious humming and crying—lead Roo to twin discoveries: Emmett, a cousin she didn’t know existed, and a domed, dried-up garden in a remote part of the house. Potter lavishes attention on the gothic island setting and Roo’s uncle’s estate; it’s a thrilling ghost story, but one that, like the story it’s drawn from, has love and rebirth at its heart. Ages 9–12. Agent: Alice Tasman, Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency. (Feb.)

From the Publisher

“Fans of the classic [The Secret Garden] will delight in the similarities and differences.” School Library Journal

“Ms. Potter revives the story [of The Secret Garden] with such grace and sensitivity.” The Wall Street Journal

“Potter intentionally evokes the [Secret Garden], capturing its bittersweet emotions and fey qualities. But it is not a clone in modern dress. The author has created a fresh tale with a strong-willed heroine. . . . . An homage to a cherished classic that can work as a companion piece or stand alone as a solid, modern tale for young readers in the 21st century.” Kirkus Reviews

“Potter lavishes attention on the gothic island setting and Roo's uncle's estate; it's a thrilling ghost story, but one that, like the story it's drawn from, has love and rebirth at its heart.” Publisher's Weekly, starred review

“After the violent death of her drug dealer parents, Roo Fanshaw is sent to live with her wealthy and eccentric uncle on the remote Cough Rock Island in upstate New York. At first her new home seems strange compared to her life full of instability and neglect, and does nothing to lessen her instinct to hide. Small, quiet, and stubborn, Roo prefers to listen to the earth and would rather hide in caves than be around people. But slowly she grows attached to the offbeat characters that make up her new world. Secrets surround Cough Rock Island and the Fanshaw family, giving Roo a mystery to investigate. Her discovery of a garden, a friend, and a cousin draws Roo out of her shell and she ends up flourishing in her new surroundings. A novel closely inspired by The Secret Garden, Potter, who wrote The Kneebone Boy, once again produces a smart, thoughtful, and captivating story. Though a modern tale this tribute to the classic still has a timeless feel.” Emily Griffin, Children's Literature

Children's Literature - Emily Griffin

After the violent death of her drug dealer parents, Roo Fanshaw is sent to live with her wealthy and eccentric uncle on the remote Cough Rock Island in upstate New York. At first her new home seems strange compared to her life full of instability and neglect, and does nothing to lessen her instinct to hide. Small, quiet, and stubborn, Roo prefers to listen to the earth and would rather hide in caves than be around people. But slowly she grows attached to the offbeat characters that make up her new world. Secrets surround Cough Rock Island and the Fanshaw family, giving Roo a mystery to investigate. Her discovery of a garden, a friend, and a cousin draws Roo out of her shell and she ends up flourishing in her new surroundings. A novel closely inspired by The Secret Garden, Potter, who wrote The Kneebone Boy, once again produces a smart, thoughtful, and captivating story. Though a modern tale this tribute to the classic still has a timeless feel. Reviewer: Emily Griffin

School Library Journal

Gr 4–6—Roo, 12, witnesses her parents' murder and survives by hiding beneath the family's trailer home. A rather unlikable child, she's a thief and she bites. She is put in foster care, where she is teased mercilessly by the other children, until a relative can be found. Then a previously unknown uncle turns up. He is wealthy and reclusive and lives on an island. He travels a great deal, so he sends his assistant to fetch Roo. On the train ride to Maine, Ms. Valentine lays down the rules about Roo's new house, and the child immediately sets about breaking every one of them. She discovers a secret box underneath some floorboards. She hears a mysterious humming noise. She notices that a good portion of the home, which used to be a sanatorium for children, is boarded up. And, she wonders about a mysterious, homeless boy she notices on a nearby island. Soon, she's noticing other mysteries and inconsistencies and makes a big discovery, which she keeps a secret. Sound vaguely familiar? The cover states that the book was inspired by The Secret Garden. It so parallels its predecessor that it's really a modernized retelling that works on many levels—but not on others. It's shorter and more streamlined and quite suspenseful. Yet, could a child be so easily hidden away nowadays? Fans of the classic will delight in the similarities and differences. Readers who might be intimidated by the original will find Potter's telling more accessible.—Brenda Kahn, Tenakill Middle School, Closer, NJ

Kirkus Reviews

A young orphan finds herself in a remote mansion that hides many secrets. Roo's childhood has been traumatic; she is ill-fed, ill-clothed and too small for her age. She spends much of her time hiding in cavelike spaces, with her ear to the ground listening intensely to the movements within the Earth. When her drug-dealing parents are killed, she is sent to live with an uncle on an isolated island--Cough Rock--in the St. Lawrence River in upstate New York. The local inhabitants are earthy and superstitious and seem to hark back to an earlier time. Her uncle stays away for months at a time. A newly discovered cousin screams and cries and rarely leaves his room. There is also a mysterious, long-neglected garden that calls to her. The characters and events are nearly exact counterparts to those found in the classic The Secret Garden. Potter intentionally evokes the earlier work, capturing its bittersweet emotions and fey qualities. But it is not a clone in modern dress. The author has created a fresh tale with a strong-willed heroine. Though Jack is no Dickon, Roo might be more likable than Mary Lennox. An homage to a cherished classic that can work as a companion piece or stand alone as a solid, modern tale for young readers in the 21st century. (Fiction. 9-12)

Related Subjects

Meet the Author

Ellen Potter is the author of The Kneebone Boy, also published by Feiwel and Friends, and praised as "a quirky charmer" by Kirkus in a starred review. Her other novels include, Slob, a Junior Library Guild selection, and the bestselling Olivia Kidney series. She lives in Upstate New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

I was expecting a 300+ page book o the humming room but instead they give you 127 pages of the humming room and then the last 200 some pages is the secret garden!!!! The humming room was a really good book i just wish it was longer and that they mentioned it was only 127 pages and the rest was the secret garden. This is just a heads up. If you get the book its great but dont expect all 300+ pages to be the humming room. Because its not. It 2 books in one.

thewanderingjew

More than 1 year ago

This is an excellent mystery for middle grade children, boys and girls alike. It is a mystery, quite tense and scary at times, filled with all the excitement of a ghost story on a lonely island. It is a story of friendship, of loss and renewal, of coming of age, of the beginnings of romance. It is a story of healing. There is magic and fantasy and sadness and joy. It is a lovely little book.
Roo is the star. She lives a sad little life in a trailer with her dad and his girlfriend. When they are murdered she is shipped off to a foster home and then to an uncle who lives on a remote, lonely island on the St. Lawrence River, Cough Rock, to live in a forbidding-looking mansion, formerly a children&rsquo;s hospital, thus its name. It was sanitarium for children with TB. There she discovers family secrets, hidden rooms with a hidden cousin, abandoned rooms with hidden treasures, a ring from a former patient, and secret passages, tunnels to basements and hidden gardens, and then, she discovers the Faigne, what some people think is a mythical boy who lives on the river, but he turns out to be quite real to Roo.
Her uncle is cold and distant, mourns the loss of his wife by rejecting everyone. She discovers her cousin, living in a remote room of the mansion, prone to fits, mourning the far too premature loss of his mother and a father who rejects him. Violet, a young, happy governess and all purpose helper, cook, etc. and Ms Valentine, a stern, not very warm assistant to her uncle, keep the house running smoothly, preparing meals and caring for all of them. In their own way, they try to bring order to the house, the rumors, the madness and loneliness that surrounds the family.
Roo is a loner; she doesn&rsquo;t much like people. She is small for her age, fits into tiny places and loves to hide away in secret spots. She loves living things and can hear the sound of the earth&hellip;the humming of things growing. She is stubborn, brave and reckless at times. She can do mean things, without understanding the consequences, or without caring, because she doesn&rsquo;t feel cared for by others. She likes to steal because she has so little of her own. She likes to make things grow, so she planted glass animals and plants and snakes under the trailer in which she lived with her dad and his girlfriend, before their murder. Her neighbor would leave things out for her to take, when she looked away, because she understood that Roo would not accept anything from her. Roo rejects people because they reject her, due to her strangeness, poverty and belligerence.
The characters are interesting and well developed. Roo Fanshaw never knew her mom. Her uncle is the double of her father. The Faigne, Jack, seems to have no home or relatives. Phillip, her cousin, mourns the loss of his mother and feels her presence in the house. He is subject to fits and tantrums. He is wasting away from neglect. He pines for his mother and his absent father. Roo rescues Phillip from his madness, befriends the faigne, Jack, tames her uncle and brings love back into the mansion.
This is a wonderful little book, based on &quot;The Secret Garden&quot; by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

I red this book luvd it!!! But the athor shoulda made the ending better!!! The ending feels unfinished!!

wordforteens

More than 1 year ago

Every now and then I pick up a middle grade book. I haven't been blown away by any in a long time. (It's hard when my basis for middle grade comparison is Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl and Erin Hunter's Warriors series.) But they're nice when I want a short, quick romp through a book.
The Humming Room provided just that; full of interesting characters and a fun setting, it managed to distract me for the quick hour it took to read. (At 182 pages, it's not very long.) It was cute and fun and, really, everything it should have been.
I did have problems with Roo's character at the beginning, only because she licks a glass snake and I couldn't think of anybody really who did that and it seemed kind of out of character for Roo because she may have been wild but she was also smart and smart people just don't go around licking things, ya know? But besides that one moment, I really liked her and her adoration of nature.
The other characters were interesting and fun, I suppose; I didn't really have any sort of fondness for any of them outside of Roo and, perhaps, Jack. (You'll find out who he is if you read it. Spoiler free!)

Buried-in-Books

More than 1 year ago

First I'd like to say that though it says this novel was inspired by The Secret Garden, I thought I was reading a Middle Grade version of Jane Eyre. Yes, there were a lot of differences, but the gothic setting, the hidden room, the crying, the secret rooms. It all reminded me of Jane Eyre. But despite all that, I have to say, I loved Roo Fanshaw! This is a kid that has been through it all. She was hiding under her trailer, playing with the glass garden she had planted under there while the policemen are asking questions about the murder of her parents. Roo is strong. She compartmentalizes the pain and shuts it away. Save it for a day she can deal with it. She takes all the new experiences in stride . I never felt sorry for her, she just wouldn't let me. She was so inquisitive and didn't follow the rules. I loved everything about her from the way she hid in a little cave watching the water and learning the earth, to the way she explored the house when she was told not to. She could listen to the earth and hear things growing. She is one of my favorite protagonists in contemporary literature. The other characters, and I'll only name a few, the nasty Ms. Valentine, the always cheerful and permissive Violet, the elusive, but loyal and educational Jack and the never present Uncle. All of them add a lot to the story and make for an adventurous time. The story is laid out with great suspense and detail, but not too much. It's well thought out and enjoyable. The writing is easy to read and feel and there is a great feeling of what's going to happen next and I couldn't stop reading it until I finished it. Yes, it's like the Secret Garden and Jane Eyre and Roo is going to forever be in my heart for her bravery and her unwillingness to give up even in the face of insurmountable odds. I honestly don't know if this is a Middle Grade book or a YA book but it would be fine for either. It's light on the romance and big on the mystery. But the main characters are 14 or so I'm not sure if that makes it YA or not. I didn't think it was that close to the Secret Garden. There were a lot of mysteries to be discovered other than the Secret Garden. I highly recommend this one! I received an ARC of this from the publisher through NetGalley. I was in no way compensated for my review. This is one I will be buying for my shelf to keep to read again.

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

Thrilling with excitment with roo fanshaw

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

I have not read this book but by just reading reviews and the summary, I give it the fate of a very good book.

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

I thought that this book was very interesting, charming, witty, as well as all of the characters in it. Overall this is a book that I would go back and read again. I think it would be best for kids 9-13.

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

As I opened the book my heart began to race. I read the first page and breathed in the beautiful fragrance of the story. It felt good to read it, and I loved the sense of mystery and fear that I got from reading the book. Fantasy and fear await you as you enter Roo's world of mystery and legends that turn out to be true. Most importantly, Roo unlocks the door to great potential and friendship buried deep down in her heart that was unexplored for a very long time.
In conclusion, I greatly recommend to anyone. After reading this book, Ellen Potter was one of my favorite authors. And, since I want to be an author when I'm older, this book has the perfect tone and voice that I can appreciate and hopefully be able to learn from in my stories.
-M. Ganesan

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

I enjoyed this story inspired by The Secret Garden. I wish it was longer and had not ended so abruptly. As I read I could see the inspirations of Mary Lenox. The Secret Garden is a long standing favorite of mine. I think The Humming Room is going on that cherished list.

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE make another book!

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

Great book for anyone that loves a sad,happy,and funny adventure

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

They had this at my school book fair and i just got it! I havent read it yet but it loits kond of creepy!okes really good. I love the cover art in color!

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

I thought it was longer but only 127 pages of the humming room.... no ghosts.... no scariness..... no nothing. And 200+ pages of the secret garden which i already have. Good book but just wasnt satistfying.

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

This book REEKS of The Secret Garden. There are too many similarities between the books, and I KNOW it says it was inspired by The Secret Garden, but WHY CANT ELLEN POTTER WRITE HER OWN STORY INSTEAD OF COPYING OFF SOMEONE ELSES? What I hate more than anything else in the world (except war, death, bullies and ketchup) is an author who cant write. The summary says "This is a story only Ellen Potter could write." But this was a story written YEARS AND YEARS AGO!! Plus, Potter has only written one book: THIS ONE!!! How are we to know if this is a book only she can write if she hasnt written any others? It sounds like Ellen Potter wants to make herself famous, and shes seriously failing. But there are good parts of the story too.
I love the character of Roo, how she is highly intelligent and utterly independent, she's stubborn but that should be expected (spoiler alert: her dad and his girlfriend were drug dealers!) Roo doesnt trust anyone, and why should she? Her parents (I call them "parents" because thats easier than "her dad and his girlfriend") were abusive and horrible to each other. Jolie (girlfriend) has a TONGUE STUD!!! WHO GETS A BLUBERSCHNUGETTY TONGUE STUD??? (bluberschnugetty is prounounced "bloo-ber-shnu-get-tee" by the way. Bluberschnuget is pronounced "bloo-ber-shnu-get.")
This has been a review by Authoress. Any views of Authoress are what she thinks personally and Authoress means no offense to those in opposition to Authoress' views. (Say that ten times fast!)
:) :) :)
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Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

This book is mysterious and spooky. There is so many twists and turns. I don't want to be a spoiler but here's the thing Roo's dad and his girlfriend die and Roo could care less so she hides under her trailer where she won't get caught but the nieghboor told the sheriff were she was and got caught...... i wish i could tell you more but then there is no point to read the book i promise you will love the book and if you have good taste in books even there romantic books you will like this book.
By:Anonymous

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

This book was so amazing that girl she was strong she had a very sad life I dont think I would be abel to be like her in that tipe of situation